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Testimonials

See what our participants say about the conference:

The United States and Turkey need each other. Ours is not a partnership of convenience or of temporary interests. It is one of conviction. A time tested alliance built on the enduring foundation of common interests, mutual respect, and shared values.

Ambassador Thomas Shannon

For over 6 decades, Turkey and the United States have been staunch allies and strong partners, bound by common values and mutual interests.

Ambassador Serdar Kılıç

Those of us who want to live in freedom, those of us who want to live in prosperity and those of us who want to live in safety, have to find ways to work together, particularly in times of political turmoil.

The Honorable Newt Gingrich

… the U.S.-Turkey relationship has long made both countries safer, more innovative, and more prosperous.

Despite resurgent support for protectionist trade policies and ongoing diplomatic uncertainty, the world’s best destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) continues to be the United States. This trend holds true with U.S.-Turkish trade, as the number of Turkish firms investing in the U.S. has increased tremendously within the last five years. These investments typically raise large amounts of capital, due to the perception that American markets generate stable returns. Even with cooling relations and new tariffs in the U.S., bilateral trade and Turkish FDI continue to thrive, potentially creating the conditions for a return to a robust, productive partnership. This panel will discuss viable markets for investment in the U.S. with the help of recent FDI patterns along with the impacts of the recent steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration on trade relations between the two countries.

The majority of global energy investment is now going to renewable energy production, driven by sharp cost reductions and policy support. Almost two thirds of net power capacity around the world came from renewable energy in 2017. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that, within the next five years, growth in renewable energy generation will be twice as large as that of gas and coal combined. Even as the U.S. government shifts its focus to more conventional energy sources, the American private sector continues to push for investment in renewable energy production. For example, fossil fuel companies are increasingly working to incorporate low-carbon renewable technologies, setting the stage for a new class of hybrid firms to emerge in the global energy industry. Turkey is also diversifying its energy portfolio, making renewable energy production capacity the centerpiece of its new national energy strategy. This panel will explore the future outlook of renewable energy capacity and its impact on the electricity market as well as potential partnership and investment opportunities between the U.S. and Turkey.

The need for technological and logistical innovation in agriculture is more profound than ever. Experts predict that humanity will need to produce 60% more food globally by 2050, while increasingly urbanized populations create the need for nontraditional agricultural production even as widespread soil erosion and chronic fresh water shortages decrease the effectiveness of traditional agricultural practices. Fortunately, modern agribusinesses have a number of solutions to the problems of modern urbanized society, such as vertical farming in urban centers, enhanced water purification and storage, and sustainable farming practices that utilize synthetic fertilizer and preserve organic soil. Some researchers are even developing cutting-edge farming methods such as farming without soil. This panel will discuss the ways in which science, policy, and business are working together to solve the pressing need to produce more food in a sustainable way for our growing urban populations.

The global manufacturing and retail industry is undergoing extraordinary change driven by increasing user demands on one side and technological innovation to sustain growth on the other. The explosion in connected platforms, combined with the abundance of data from field devices and the rapidly changing technological landscape, has made integrated digitalization a vital component for companies to quickly adapt their products and services. This adaptation simply means moving from the physical world to a digital one, allowing smarter, faster, and more integrated, cost-effective methods of production. This panel will discuss the importance of digital transformation for businesses trying to meet the needs and challenges of the future, as well as areas of investment with the potential to thrive in the years ahead.

Cloud computing is a scalable platform that can meet the needs of every kind of business, from small-medium enterprises to large corporations. Technologies that small companies might never have invested in are available in the cloud, making state-of-the-art, next-gen facilities available through the internet, reducing hardware and IT personnel costs. However, these benefits come with a price: cloud computing is as strong as its weakest link. A security breach through one firm has the potential to affect everyone operating in the cloud. This panel will discuss the tradeoffs between running your own server and working with the cloud.

Both the United States and Turkey stand at the intersection between the past and future of infrastructure. As Turkey’s middle class grows, so does its demand for energy and access to amenities like personal vehicles, making the development of Turkey’s energy and transportation infrastructure integral to its economic growth for the immediate future. The United States, meanwhile, stands in desperate need of an infrastructure overhaul, both to maintain existing systems and to create new methods of meeting the demands created by new technologies. This panel will discuss how countries can benefit from mutual investment as well as business-to-business and business-to-government partnerships.

As the second largest market for Foreign Direct Investment in West Asia, Turkey has become increasingly adept at attracting foreign investors over the past decade, despite turbulent geopolitical conditions and diplomatic tensions. Yet the majority of FDI has gone to large corporations, prompting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to seek nontraditional methods of finance, such as venture capitalists, angel investors, and crowdfunding websites. This panel will discuss the viability of alternative financing methods for SMEs and the ways in which government regulation can inhibit or promote these nascent markets in Turkey.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly invisible and assimilated into our daily lives as it quietly penetrates almost every major industry, from healthcare and finance to transportation and education. AI has many benefits, but brings with it myriad potential challenges and questions that will affect the future of work, privacy, and public policy. Understanding the models used to design new AI technology is essential to maintaining public safety. AI’s potential impact on innovation and its inherent risks require us to identify the role that policy and institutions play in promoting effective incentives for safety. This panel will discuss AI’s potential of delivering benefits to society, increasing efficiency, improving quality of life, and the policies required to minimize risks and maintain safety.